Purple Soup פּערפּעלע זופּ

דער רעצעפּט האָט זיך מיר געחלומט אַ פּאָר טעג פֿאַר פּסח. איך האָב שױן אַ שלאַל מיט אױסגעחלומטע רעצעפּטן, אַ סך פֿון זײ גאַנץ גוט. אַן אַצפּערלעכער קאָלעג האָט זי געלױבט װי די בעסטע קרױט באָרשט אױף דער װעלט.

I dreamed of this soup a few days before Peysekh. I have a number of dream recipes, some of which work in the waking world as well. An esteemed senior colleague called this the best cabbage soup in the world.

פּערפּלע זופּ

מאַסלינע בױמל (מיט אַ ברײטער האַנט)

2 גרױסע פּערפּלע ציבעלעס, דין צעשניטן לױט דער לענג

2 לאַובער בלעטער

1 לעפֿעלע טימען

7 פֿעפֿערלעך

1 הײס פֿעפֿערל

1 ¼ טעפּל רױטע װײַן (אָדער װיפֿל עץ פֿאַרשטײט)

1 העפֿטל פּערפּלער קרױט, צעשניטן

1 ½ פֿונט פּערפּלע קאַרטאָפֿל, צעשניטן

עטלעכע שטענגעלעך פּערטישקע און קריפּ (אַן ערך ¼ טעפּל פֿון יעדען)

זאַלץ און נאָך פֿעפֿער

אפֿשר 1 בוריקע, דעם צװײטן טאָג

װאַרעמט'ץ אָן בױמל, און זשאַרעט'ץ אָפּ די ציבעלעס מיט די לאַובער בלעטלעך, פּעפֿערלעך, און טימען ביז װײך און דורכזעעװדיק. גיט'ץ צו קרױט און װײַן. טוט'ץ אײַן די קאַרטאָפֿל און גענוג װאַסער אַלץ צוצודעקן (אַן ערך 12 טעפּלעך) און לאָזט'ץ זידן אַ פֿערציק מינוט. טוט'ץ אײַן פֿרישע געװירצן און נאָך זאַלץ און פֿעפֿער לױטן טעם. דאָס װעט זײַן פּערפּל װי די װעלט אינעם ערשטן טאָג. דעם צװײטן טאָג קאָן מען אַרײַנטאָן אַ ביסל אָנגעריבענע בוריקע.

Purple Soup

Olive oil (be liberal)
2 large purple onions (about 1 pound), thinly sliced along the longitudinal lines
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme

7 peppercorns

1 chile pepper
1 ¼ cup red wine (or as much as you have)
1 purple cabbage (about 2 pounds), finely sliced or shredded
1 1/2 pounds purple potatoes, peeled and diced

several sprigs parsley and dill (about ¼ cup chopped leaves for each)

salt and ground pepper
Possibly 1 beet, the next day

Heat the oil in a large soup kettle, add the sliced onions, bay leave, thyme, and peppercorns. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent and add the cabbage and wine. Add the potatoes and enough water to cover everything generously, about 12 cups. Cook for forty minutes and add the fresh herbs and salt and pepper to taste. This will be vividly purple the day it is made. The next day you might want to brighten it up with a bit of grated raw beet.

Uppåkra (Swedish Potato Cookies for Passover)

I was loving these delicious butter cookies (do not click during peysekh!), and they already have lots of potato starch to begin with, so it seemed like a good idea to try a kosher-for-Passover version. For my first try at adapting the recipe I substituted half a cup of cake meal for the cup of flour (cake meal is quite a bit denser than flour), and increased the potato starch by a two tablespoons. Next time I might try adding another two tablespoons of cake meal for a firmer dough. There is really no kosher-for-Passover vanilla extract fabulous enough for these cookies, so I left that out and added the zest of an orange and a lemon, and this worked very nicely. Maybe I start some some homemade vanilla extract now, it will be ready for next year.

The peysekhdik uppåkra came out pleasantly crisp and very crumbly. You won’t believe it’s not chametz.

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Passover Uppåkra (Swedish Butter Cookies)

8 ounces (2 sticks, 1 cup) butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 egg
grated zest of 1 orange

grated zest of one lemon

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons potato starch
½ cup cake meal (maybe ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons would be good)

Cream together butter and sugar in a mixer or with a pastry blender. Beat in the salt, egg and citrus zest. Sift together the cake meal and potato starch; add to butter mixture and beat until combined. Chill dough for about an hour. Roll into small balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheets. These cookies will spread quite a bit during baking, so give them plenty of room on the sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes or until edges are brown, rotating the sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through. You will have enough for about three half-sheet pans.

I am usually pretty chill about these things, but I’m just saying: if this recipe is not in the first page of results for "peysekhdik uppåkra," I will be sorely aggrieved.

Coffee, Sugar, and the Cosmos

Photo by Mark Rifkin

Our sages teach that the sun crouches all night behind the Domino Sugar building in Williamsburg. It rises from the sugar building and describes an arc across the sky, finally setting behind the Maxwell House Coffee building in Jersey City. One heavenly cycle is completed every twenty-eight years, always on a Wednesday.

אַלע בעסטע גרוסן פֿאַר אַ זיסן כּשרן פּסח און אַכט און צװאַנציק גוטע יאָר!

Wishing all In Mol Araan a wonderful Peysekh, and twenty-eight fabulous years of the new cosmic cycle.

Something Out of Nothing III: Bottom of the Bag Pancakes

Each year at about this time I make one last batch of something to empty out whatever peysekh-unsuitable ingredients are still lurking in the pantry, and every year this turns out to be better than even I would have guessed. Have a look at Bottom of the Bag Muffins and Bottom of the Bag Cookies from previous years, and Lindy’s Something out of Nothing roundup.

I understand that because of their ad-hoc nature you are not likely to reproduce these recipes as written, but I am finding it very interesting to record them. I wish I had started this blog at least one year earlier and caught a really special oat and yogurt bread. Oh, just thinking of all those recipes that got away can break your little heart if you have one.

I am very late this year, so this recipe is smaller than usual, but definitely worthwhile. Tremble before me leavened grain; I am the fearsome khumets-bane!

Bottom of the Bag Pancakes

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon (1 ½ ounce) Bob’s Red Mill Cream of Buckwheat cereal

2 tablespoons (1 ounce) Bob’s Red Mill 6-Grain cereal with flax

2 tablespoons (1 ounce) potato starch

½ cup (2 ounces) all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

½ cup coconut milk

½ cup unsweetened hemp milk

2 tablespoons melted butter, and some butter for the griddle

2 tablespoons bamboo honey

Stir together the flours and cereals with the salt and baking powder. Beat the eggs lightly and mix in the milks, butter and honey. Combine all the ingredients and stir just to mix. Heat a cast iron griddle or skillet and rub with the barest film of butter. Pour batter onto the griddle in about 1/3 cup measures. Flip the cakes when bubbles form in the surface. Butter and syrup, of course.

This recipe made nine 4-inch pancakes.

Don't miss the pancake movie if you have not seen it yet!

I have not quite got finished everything off. The awful truth is I still have nearly an entire container of hemp milk. Hemp smoothies for breakfast!